Engaging Undergraduates in Ocean-Atmosphere Experiments: From Teaching to Research and Outreach

1. Introduction Integration Across the curriculum At UMass Dartmouth, four experiments were implemented as part of senior lab requirement. The classroom demonstrations were followed up by students as part of the lab. Concurrent web-based investigations of synoptic and climatological data on thermal wind, geostrophic flow, fronts and Ekman layers connected the phenomenon being observed in the weather tank with the atmosphere. Experiments illustrating formation/destruction of stratification, and Ekman suction/pumping were chosen for the coastal zone sustainability topics course. We report on the integration of 'Weather in a Tank' rotating fluid laboratory experiments with theory and data into courses at UMass Dartmouth and five partner universities.These are used to involve undergraduates in research and for outreach and general education. Implementation at Partner Institutions The portability and ease of use allows the tank system to be integrated in class with very brief preparation. The implementations include general education courses in Meteorology, Climate and Coastal Zone, and Laboratory courses at MIT, UMass Dartmouth, undergraduate courses in Meteorology and oceanography at Penn State University, Millersville University,and Johns Hopkins University. At MIT, Penn State, UMass Dartmouth, Johns Hopkins and UW Madison, demonstrations were implemented in different courses, from introductory courses to non-science major to laboratory courses for science students. In some courses the experiments were conducted first with the instructor in small groups. The students chose, demonstrated and explained one of the experiments to their class. Similar demonstrations were conducted by met. majors at Millersville. The setup has also been used at U.S. Coast Guard Academy, Wheaton College and Monona High School, WI. More details can be found here: http://paoc.mit.edu/labguide/assess_courses.html Student Learning and instructor satisfaction Thermal wind balance and fronts experiment This implementation made strong connection of the experiments with the synoptic and climatological data. Despite the variety in background, class size, and level of the students, the instructors noted similarities in enhanced student learning of theoretical concepts, confirmed by formal assessment using pre/post tests by our Education Specialist Kathie Mackin. Detailed assessment reports are available at the website. General Circulation: Many rotating fluid experiments targeted in the ‘Weather in a Tank’ project are described in a new undergraduate textbook by Marshall and Plumb: Atmosphere, Ocean and Climate Dynamics (Academic Press) Undergrads from UMass Dartmouth, Millersville, NYU and MIT got together for a 2-day meeting in summer to compare notes on new ‘Weather in a Tank’ projects. Engaging Undergraduates in Ocean-Atmosphere Experiments: From Teaching to Research and Outreach http://paoc.mit.edu/labguide American Meteorological Society: 18th Education Symposium, January, 2009 Amit Tandon*, L. Illari+ and J. Marshall+ *University of Massachusetts Dartmouth, +Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Research with Undergraduates Ekman Suction and Pumping Experiment Undergraduate students at various institutions got involved with new ideas to demonstrate the concepts they had learned in consultation with the instructors. David Beesley and Jason Olejarz from UMass Dartmouth used computer cooling fans to demonstrate the Ekman suction and pumping. This work resulted in a publication in Oceanography. Carter Chamberlain, an undergraduate Physics junior has extended Ekman suction/pumping experiments to two-layered flows, where the denser fluid is dyed. The interface motion illustrates suction/pumping. The fan driven experiments with a tilted bottom have also been used to illustrate western boundary current and Sverdrup return flow. A student at Millersville pursued non-rotating 2-D convection, while two students at NYU pursued demonstration of abyssal flow on a beta plane with a source/sink combination. These new projects have been added to the suite of experiments that can be performed for education and outreach using the portable rotating fluid tank. Outreach At the Women in Science conference at Algonquin Regional High School, Northborough, MA (top-left). At the New Bedford waterfront festival, (top-right). In a preschool class (bot-left). Quotes from the instructors: “Students really enjoyed the experiment and asked many questions. It was done on the first day of classes. The students are always asking me when the next experiment is going to happen. Good sign.” “I believe that the demos were convincing in that students could readily see that the rotation did impart stiffness (stability) to the fluid in the dye stirring demo.” Acknowledgements: This work is supported by the National Science Foundation via a CCLI Phase II award to John Marshall and Lodovica Illari, MIT. For more information contact: Amit Tandon (atandon@umassd.edu) Lodovica Illari (illari@mit.edu) or John Marshall (jmarsh@mit.edu)